exploring a sober friendly sin city

Springs Preserve, Part 1

Before I get into today’s post I just wanted to share something related to nothing that’s making me happy.

As you may have guessed, I love podcasts.

And this podcast, The Sporkful, is just bringing me so many smiles as of late. It’s a show that focuses on food, eating, pop culture, and how it’s all related. It had been on hiatus for a bit, and just recently came back with a great episode featuring comedian Kumail Nanjiani and it’s just DE-LIGHT-FUL.

I know, I know, not sobriety related, but sometimes a distraction can be nice! 🙂

We are right smack dab in the middle of our four weeks of perfect weather this spring here in Vegas, so I thought it would be the right time to talk about one of our local sober-friendly treasures, The Springs Preserveover three different posts.

Located about a 10 minute drive/cab/lyft ride from the center of The Strip, The Springs Preserve was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970’s.

Here are a few reasons I personally love this place and make it a point to take visitors from out of town here:

Easy parking

Multiple Museums to explore

Outdoor Trails and garden areas

On site dining (which FYI is sober-friendly but not alcohol-free)

Rotating special exhibitions

Basically, there’s something for everyone here!

It’s possible to be here for 4-5 hours and still not see everything. And if you don’t believe me you can get a good overview on the map and all the offerings here.

In Vegas as a tourist, this is $20 really well spent….and FYI for locals it’s only $10!

A view of the main entrance…beautifully and thoughtfully designed

The entire place feels like a love story to the desert.

The colors they’ve chosen, the plants and gardens featured, and the way the paths throughout the preserve lead through natural settings and are laid out with care.

Beautiful walking paths throughout the campus

In addition to rotating exhibitions, they also have tons of events. Almost every week they have both recurring events as well as special events and festivals over the weekend.

Some upcoming special events include an Ice Cream Festival (ummm….yum) and the Ohana Festival (celebrating Hawaiian & Pacific Islander culture) and recurring events include lectures, classes for young ones, and guided walks.

One of their many rotating galleries–this one featuring art by local high school students

I recommend taking a few minutes and to watch the movie they have called “Miracle in the Mojave” about the Mojave Desert and see if you recognize the narrator (hint: think TV’s favorite late 1990’s POTUS…) The film does a good job giving an overview of the role of water and nature in this part of the country.

Entering the Origen Museum area featuring an overview of local animals and plants

One fun feature here is the Flash Flood exhibit. It’s a bit cheezy, but you go into a room and stand over a water area and see and experience a flash flood getting created!

It’s only about a 5 minute feature, but here in the desert flash floods are common and unique to the Southwest.

The outdoor area of the Origen Museum featuring walking paths and play areas for young ones

Something I really appreciate about The Springs Preserve is their effort to include ALL the histories of Las Vegas, not just the past 100 years.

One of the videos featuring the many histories of Las Vegas

They have a few different areas that give the history of the Native American Settlements that have been in Nevada over the centuries, the Ancestral Puebloans, Patayans Mojave and Paiute tribes.

A still from the scene re-creating the 1905 land auction

Jumping forward to the 20th Century, they have a re-creation of the 1905 Land Auction that gave way to the birth of Las Vegas as we know it today.

A view of the re-creation of the early railroad here in Vegas

They also have a great section featuring the history of the railroad in Nevada, as well as an exhibition dedicated to the creation of Hoover Dam.

That’s enough to keep a person busy for at least an hour to an hour and a half….and in the next post I’ll be giving you some information about the Nevada State Museum that’s housed here….until then….! <3

🙂 thank you so much for reading! yes, I know Vegas has a certain kind of reputation (ha!) and I am working to get the word out that we have so much more here! Especially for folks that are willing to take a short ride off the strip 🙂 thank you again for stopping by!